Lompat Si Katak Lompat...DAP rep jumps bek

Ok! The chicken has come back to roost again.....it's back into the fold again...this is a real lompat si katak lompat....jump out, then jump bek again...if his intention was to shock - he succeeded!....Madness! Press conference just over an hour ago...big discussion. LKS kept mum this time. And things back to before...for now. All in all 6-7 hours of impasse! And a lot of goodwill lost...

DAP Rep Quits Perak EXCO

Just as we thought the Perak Government can get down to governing, this has to happen. Seems it is because Sivasubramaniam said DAP, his party, renegaded on their promises of 2 Indians reps. Malaysiakini has the details. With this, it also show how fragile the coalition is and that racial politics still rules. Perhaps he should have met and brought his grouses to the party leadership. By releasing and announcing his quitting from DAP also can imply so many things. Too many...and it also demeans the Makkal Sakhti.

Maybe the anti-hopping law should be introduced...if one quits from the party he stood as a candidate then one should also resign as rep and a fresh election be conducted. If this kind of things happen once too often, the people will get equally fed-up with the BR. Remember, many are looking at them for fresh changes, to right the wrong of so many decades and to bring a new dawn to Malaysian politics, where race would not be a prerequisite for anything. BR reps are the torch bearers of this new hope.....don't screw up!

Parental Control on Mac... 8)

Just love this feature on the Mac OS. Can specify the time limit for kids....some more got weekend and weekday times. After the time you set is over, the computer automatically shuts down and no more computer time. That's all for the day.

No need to argue about my hour not over yet, etc. No need to deal with grumpiness...he! he! The computer does the talking. Isn't that marvellous? One more reason why I am beginning to like my Mac more and more. 8)

What I learn from the Dalai Lama ......Anger

His favourite adjectives – logical / realistic
His favourite verbs – investigate / analyze / explore

We get angry for various reasons. If you are intelligent to read this, I am sure you can come up with your own list. When we get angry most of us shut down…. At work, home and play anger is not something uncommon. How often do we all rant and rave about injustices to us and maybe to a lesser extent other issues? And more often than never, we prefer to leave anger be cos resolving it is very taxing. More fun to go play golf or just bury yourself in some other physical or virtual games.

But this is never always the best solution. There is a need to communicate and remain in contact with the issue that caused the anger and resolve it. Look at the Palestinians, what brought about the chaos and disorder there? Does anger have anything to do? It’s not difficult to figure out that the young men and women who blow themselves up along with other innocent people are very angry people. If we can get to the root of that, maybe, just maybe, Palestine would be a peaceful and prosperous land?

Even the Scriptures has this to say…Never let the sun go down on your anger…there must be something in that, right? Written so very long ago, there sure must be some wisdom in this. So, for those of us who so often fall into this anger trap…Use your logic to think of a realistic solution. Investigate and analyze the cause(s) and explore all possible avenues of a resolution. Life would definitely be happier and the world would have many of her existing problems solved.

For you girls about about to embark into life...and you guys too.

Many of us dream of being whisked away by our knight in the shining armour...the dream guy comes along and sweeps us off our feet. Finding the right partner is perhaps one of the best things in life...there is this saying, a good marriage is the nearest thing to heaven on this side of the world. But it also has its opposite evil twin, a bad marriage is the nearest thing to hell too.

Girls, watch out for these pitfalls. A guy may come along and whisked you away. Love is a wonderful feeling...but what kind of guy should you look for? What about these????

1. I will take care of you vs I will allow you to develop to your full potential
2. You are my world vs let's explore our worlds
3. I will change for you vs I will change for myself - (is that selfish?)

A relationship that is good would be one that is not exclusive. You know, when you start a relationship, you want to spend all the time you can with each other. Very often your world becomes just that...just the two of you. The outside world becomes a blur. That may be fine in at the start. But that sort of relationship will stifle you in the end. You will lose yourself if left unchecked..independence, personal growth, etc. You should strive to have a relationship that is inclusive of the people in your lives. We need people, people need us.

Watch out for guys who want to monitor your every move, be in every one of your activity....the overly possessive ones. At the end of the day, these will the same guys who will blame you for things that may go wrong in their lives. Many of us hear this often..."I cannot live without you." There're very few who can live up to that...History will tell you that....I think it's more common for widowers to marry than widows. Watch out for these guys who hold you at emotional ransom. More often, the girls being more compassionate will feel sorry for the guys. Repeatingly giving in to such 'blackmails' will cause you to lose yourself

"....say, you're in a relationship...finds it is not going anywhere....you want to call it off and both are still studying. He doesn't want to let you go...so he pleads with you, says he will change...you relent...the relationship continues...after some time...still cannot...you try to call it off again...he says he can't study without you...then you relent...it continues...the drama repeats itself...more arguments...he does badly...blames it on you...you feel bad...the final relent...you marry him. So does it end here? This is a relationship of 'I want'. Now that he has you...will things change? He believes so...but his style is already entrenched...the pattern continues......" Girls, what are you left holding now? A lifetime of emotional blackmail??? I don't have the answer to this question.

Love is a very powerful emotion. But it is also just one step away from possessiveness which because of its negativity will bring out destruction. True love (1 Cor 13:4-8)...does not envy, does not boast, is not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no record of wrong, does not delight in evil but delights in truth, always protects, always trusts, always hope, always perseveres, DOES NOT FAIL.

Though I may title this to you girls, it can also work vice versa. Take note...life is too short to be consumed by such things.
Think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion, as it ought to be lived. ANNA QUINDLEN in A Short Guide to a Happy Life

World's earliest recorded human sound..

Check this out..
www.firstsounds.org/sounds/index.php

It is the oldest record of the human voice. It was done on April 9 1860 during the time of Emperor Napoleon III, the last monarch of France. The inventor, Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville, had this gadget called the 'phonautograph', a device that scratched sound waves onto a sheet of paper blackened by the smoke from an oil lamp. Sound digital experts have just recently manage to get the sound out.

Sounds to me like a warbling...

For the blessings in my life.....

It's these little things in life that add colours to my life....my little girl did this for me.. I asked her why the word 'You' was by the side...she said she ran out of space... 8) It was a rush job, you see, cos the other kids were going to give me a surprise! ...and she didn't want to be left out!

The rest of the kids did this.... and a beautifully handmade card. One of the nicest things in life is to know that we are remembered. Guess that's why year in year out, all those adverts during CNY and all the other festive seasons keep reminding us to go back visit our folks.

Of new terms - blog, dooce and twitter

Do you know that you can get dooced for twittering in your blog? Interesting how new words are coined every day. Dooced basically means getting fired.

Anyway, I tried looking up their meanings from some online dictionaries. Cannot find the word dooce but there is a definition of twitter though not in the sense meant here. Twitter is this little Web 2.0 latest Silicon Valley toy that geeks are using to keep in touch with their friends. Simply, it's IM for the big boys and gals.

Some call it microblogging. Once posted cannot edit...only can delete. But you can know immediately who your followers are...and the icing on the cake or maybe this is the scary part, updates can be sent to your mobile since they have a 140 characters limit. See the similarity with sms? Now I wonder whether they (mobile operators) charge for receiving. So with that, can you think of countless possibilities for this little new toy?? I already can.....

Obama and Jeremiah Wright....the way I see it

I've not been reading much into world news lately till my last copy of Time Magazine came. Inside was a piece on Obama..."Why Obama Has a Pastor Problem." As usual, the 'want to know' in me got the better of me...I started reading up more. There are many different opinions out there about his ties with Wright.

I do find it a little appalling that Wright states so many incendiary statements over the pulpit...I watched one over You Tube....I mean, to charge the government created AIDS and deliberately infecting the blacks. Don't the whites, Asians and every other race have their own AIDS story? Or are they just collateral damages? Conspiracies?? Your guess is as good as mine. What I believe is this...we have to be taught to hate and fear. Implying that over the pulpit does exactly that...

What I find disturbing is Obama neither spoke out or engaged his Pastor for his conduct. In fact he has been with him for 20 years. What about principles and conscience? What exactly are marks of a great leader? In Obama's recent speech he says his response isn't to walk out but to try understand what is fueling that sort of fire. How can he listen to such kind of rantings for such a long time unless it is something that goes down well with him? Or it just didn't matter to him. But he did this though, he distanced himself when he realised that his relationship with Wright was damaging his campaign.

In our local context we too have our teaching the masses to hate and fear...our brand of politics has been like this the last few decades. So much so that the line between right and wrong is so blur now. The keris wielding episode, the way the NEP was manipulated and so many more. They sow the seeds of fear, dissatisfaction and hatred. But it is heartening to see men and women of principles speaking out. To these people, I salute you. May you be the hope of the new Malaysia.

Bible Map by Google ... screen capture with a Mac

My first attempt at doing a screen capture. Verdict - Mac has a nicer feel than normal PC mainly because you can select what you want with the Command-Shift-4 key. So there is no need to edit. Can post straight away unless you want to resize it.

Other half pointed me to this site: http://www.biblemap.org/
Basically what it does is when you pick a book in the Bible and the chapter, all those places mentioned in that particular chapter of the book will be highlighted. Kinda nice cos it brings those places to life for those studying the Bible.

And with Bible Map which is created with Google Map, there are actually more to those places where you can see more than just their locations. But more importantly this little service created by HeLives Ministry helps bring the study of the Bible more alive cos it shows us those places.... cos when we read and don't know, sometimes these places with strange sounding names can actually sound fictitious. It's like giving a face to a name thing. My screen capture is just to illustrate.

For those taking Bible Knowledge for SPM, there is the Event section where Paul's 1st to 3rd missionary journeys are detailed. Quite interesting. I think it will definitely be helpful.

It's still in Beta version but with the little that I've tried out on the BibleMap, I've this to say.....kudos to those of you who came out with this tool. God bless you for your effort!

MacBook's Keyboard

Okay...finally getting down to my MacBook. Am trying to get used to the keyboard. They didn't seem to respond as quickly as the my PC or other laptop keys so quickly. Feels like there is a delay. Same feel when I use the mouse. Tweaked it a bit in the Apps...there is some difference after that but definitely takes some getting used to since I get a little impatient when I type. Also, have to 'whack' hard on the keys when I type cos sometimes certain letters don't come out. Whatever it is, I definitely have to press harder on the Mac.

The space in between each key is nice though. Chances of you hitting the key next to it is slimmer because of it. I think it will be quite nice for those with bigger fingers. For me, not much difference-lah but still it is thoughtfully put in just in case.

Memories in a bowl of 'loo-mien'

Over the weekend trip back home to CTA1. Trip was very hectic cos there were so many things to do but so little time... However, other half was quite trigger happy with the camera and managed to get quite a number of good shots...with our Canon Ixus 860IS.

Journey home to CTA1....dark and rainy by the time we got there..








Part of breakfast the following morn.... this is 'lor mee' ala-CTA1. In the Fuchow dialect, we call it 'loo-mien'. Only difference is in this particular pic, it wasn't mee inside. We had meat balls and wantan in it, instead. The dish is different from the ones I eat in other places. The soup has lots of bamboo shoots and some dried sotong, giving it a distinct taste. Adding wantan and meatballs makes it a side dish to accompany the dried mee or 'kampuan' as we call our 'kon-lo-mee'....this is gluttony cos we wanted to eat as much as we could since the visit was so short. Meatball is also different cos when you get to the middle, there's real meat nestled in there.

Anyway, it's not just the taste that is good, it's the familiarity and memories that come with it when we eat it. I, mean, you can find nice food everywhere but food that is associated with a chunk, some more a big one, of your childhood and growing years??? Where to find? Guess that's why whenever a bunch of us do get a chance to talk about CTA1 food, we go really 'siao'. 8) Same for everyone else too, I supposed. That's why everyone gushes about their kampung food with such affection....ALWAYS! It's the personal bond that we share with the food. 8)

Never alone....

Heard this over the radio while driving to work this morning....by Jim Brickman. Wasn't the tune that caught my attention but the words..

May the angels protect you
Trouble neglect you
And heaven accept you when its time to go home
May you always have plenty
Your glass never empty
And know in your belly
You're never alone

May your tears come from laughing
You find friends worth having
With every year passing
They mean more than gold
May you win but stay humble
Smile more than grumble
And know when you stumble
You're never alone

Chorus:
Never alone
Never alone
I¹ll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown
Wherever you fly
This isn't goodbye
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you¹re never alone

Well I have to be honest
As much as I wanted
I’m not gonna promise the cold winds won¹t blow
So when hard times have found you
And your fears surround you
Wrap my love around you
You're never alone

Chorus

May the angels protect you
Trouble neglect you
And heaven accept you when its time to go home
And when hard times have found you
And your fear surrounds you
Wrap my love around you
You¹re never alone

Chorus

My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you're never alone

24/03/08
Juz found this

Looks rule...vanity pays..

'Lifestyle' medicine lures US' brightest students..apparently giving out Botox injection can earn you $2000 compared to just a mere $100 for treating diabetes and hypertension. 25 years ago, the best and brightest from med school would try for Internal Medicine and General Surgery.

Now, competition for residency in dermatology is so keen and apparently winning the American Idol would be easier, so it was said...

Making people look better or making people better??? Take note all you those aspiring to be docs!!!

Easter..what it is to me

This is what Easter means to me....John 11:25-26 "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

When I was a kid, I looked forward to Easter. We had fun egg hunting during Sunday School, memorizing Bible verses (in Mandarin) - my first Scriptures were in Mandarin! - and singing. My friends and I will be running all over the church compound seeking out those red eggs and we would show off our haul at the end of it.


Now, Easter reminds me of the sufferings that Christ went through on the cross for us, and because of that I know He understands our times of pain. The cross also signifies sacrifice and forgiveness, which I am sure many of us find difficulty in giving and sometimes receiving; and also healing that comes after forgiveness. It's always better to forgive and be forgiven. We do not need to carry the baggages of bitterness in our lives. Finally, the empty tomb signifies hope and with it the possibilities unfathomable by our finite minds. (John 3:16) God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes might not perish but have eternal life.

....love, sacrifice so that we can have hope.

BLESSED EASTER!
Enjoy the short video clip

Anyway this is a site with some interesting stuff on Easter.

Politics is still hot in Malaysia...

Two weeks post election and looks like Malaysian politics is still hot. Haven't seen much action but lots of rumours going around about possible defections....KJ not making it to the cabinet because he says his condition is as long as f-i-l remains PM, he won't. At 32 and some more 1st timer MP, thought there's supposed to be a waiting list. And we won't be seeing Rafidah in the cabinet any more too. Gone is our own version of iron lady. But Mob's Crib has another view.

So what has changed...I've started subscribing to Malaysiakini - it has become a force to be reckoned with. And tonight's breaking news is the resignation of Serian SUPP MP from the party...and some of the party members. Seems he has shown some interest in joining PKR. But this has been denied by George Chan who says he is still BN rep. Is this the beginning of an avalanche??? Winds of change not done with the changing??

New political secretary for the Selangor MB is Nik Nazmi. I have followed this young man's blog for more than a year. Reckon he is a young man to watch out for. An idealistic young man. Hopes he stays that way.

Young people today are out of hand...

How many of you always hear this?
"Aiyo...you know ah...the young people today very terrible wan. Don't know how to show respect, very rude, always no manners. Never listen.... Last time, where we got like that bad."

See what Plato says: FYI Plato was a Greek philosopher who studied under Socrates, another 'hor-liao' guy who was in a way responsible for the birth of the western philosophy. These guys lived more than 2000 years ago in ancient Greece.

He complains: "What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?"

Here's another one from an even earlier time...8 B.C. It's even better than the one above!! This guy was a poet, thinker...Hesiod:
"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youths are reckless beyond words...When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful and impatient of restrain"

Sounds familiar??? Hah! Sounds like this problem is as old as man.... Good luck, parents!

Mobile phone and lifestyle change

Other half and I were sitting at the Food Loft (but this review and the real thing 'tak berapa sama' now) the other night and lamenting how our kid's lifestyle is so different compared to ours, with particular reference to how this gadget, the mobile phone has brought about a lifestyle change.

So, today I asked a bunch of kids from supposedly middle to lower income group, about 30 of them, how many of them owned mobile phones. Short of 4, everyone else had one. Theirs were not very 'canggih' but they were good enough. Before long, they were telling me all the different packages available, not knowing that I'm already in the know because of my teenager. Next question....at what time of the day do they use their mobile the most. You see, I asked this cos most of them had this sleepy look on their faces. After midnight!!! Then out came the reasons...cheaper rates...RM2 to talk for an hour, discounted SMS prices. Boy! They had so many reasons to give but all were the same actually. Cheap!

Hats off to the marketing people at the telcos.... They have actually come out with a winning combination for themselves. Day time bandwidth for businesses and night time's for all those gullible teenagers who would bite into their adverts to satisfy their needs for their social networking. They willingly give up their beauty sleep. And the poor sods have also failed to take note that the world we live in still operates mostly in the day.....in the end, to gain that little bit of 'social kick', they deprive themselves of so much more.

My first pic...

This is my first pic in this blog ... of my Mac...still trying to get used to the Command key...in place of the control key I am so used to... somehow automatically the finger will find its way to the control button still. The Mac also has a Control button, hence some confusion for me...and I guess for users at my stage.

Blogging needs effort...

Realised that to maintain a blog is no easy task...if you want to keep it going, you have to keep posting. The last couple days have been kinda packed... There were interesting and stressful elements. The interesting elements kept me busy, challenged me to keep myself on my toes. A friend's daughter asked for help to prepare for their debate and the last two days have been a whirlwind of mental challenges. That's because you have to keep thinking about what can be on both sides of the coin, plus the rebuttals....the anticipation of things to come. I realised that this is one way of training our young people to anticipate...and this anticipation requires some hard work put in cos you actually have to come up with something concrete at the end of the day. Otherwise you'll sound hollow when you take the stand.

The stressful element has to do with dealing with a growing teenager. At that age, I guess their thinking goes along one bandwidth only....only their world is correct. Outgrowing it seems to take forever.

Have not touched my Mac...the only time it was used was when we needed to surf for info while preparing for the debate. So, with all that...work and family, interests more often than never have to take a back seat....maybe I'll put it on the afterburner when the sky clears up a bit....moreover my good ol' brother dropped by and gave me a new phone, Nokia E65. It's actually a new old phone...since it has been used just a couple of months. Still, it is better than my basic model Nokia ??? (can't remember the model number). That one would also require some exploring...

Updates:
My girls won!!! Happy for them.

My new toy, MacBook...and Flock

Finally got myself a MacBook...white. That was one of the reasons why I went to Penang, the other being just to tag along to 'pacat' a free ride with my other half who had conference at one of Penang's glitzier tourist hotels. Will blog on that later.

Always wanted a Mac but never could bring myself to get one because it was so pricey. But then, the 'I want' and cool factors finally got the better of us. And other half was so nice to order it for me - I couldn't give excuses not to get it cos he had ordered. So, here I am blogging from my new Mac...took some pics of it but don't have any photo editing software yet. Wanted to do capture screen but haven't had the time to try it out. So many new things. But it's kinda exciting. Will upload some pics once I can sort those things out. Or I may have to go back to my desktop for pics makeover first. Anyway, been spending most of my free time getting used to the feel of the Mac. Boy! It's not as easy as I thought. For one, closing a program is on the left...unlike the X on the top right for Windows based. But I am slowly getting the hang of it. People say once you start on a Mac, you will get hooked on it. I think there may be truth in it. My HP Compaq nx9040 will probably not be seeing very much daylight from now onwards. I have also bought a keyboard to plug into my monitor. My desktop will probably be reassigned to another duty soon....maybe.

I consider myself a modern day social surfer...having been spoilt by Firefox with its addons, especially Sage which has made it easier for me to keep track of the countless sites and blogs. So, the first thing I did was to look for a Mac compatible browser along that line. Googled and Yahooed. Found Flock yesterday and I have been wowed by it....it's even better than Mozilla. Other half searched and recommended NewsFire to me this morning but after trying both I think I am going to stick to Flock. It's still in beta version though but with what it's capable of, I'm already a fan. The thing in it that has won me over is its Newsreader. I can organise all my sites in little neat folders and they can be seen in the sidebar...an improvement from the Sage Aggregator. Saves space and I don't have to keep scrolling down to check all the sites cos they are all now in folders. And numbers in cute blue boxes beside each folder tells me how many articles have not been read. It's really great for feed reading. And when the folder is clicked...all new feeds are shown. No need to click on the individual sites or blogs in the folder....quite a nice touch actually.

I'm not too concern about the technicalities involved in the coming out of the software but the little that I have fiddled with the last 24 hours have shown much promise. There is a Blog Editor and you also get Flickr and Photobucket integration. I've yet to use them yet but they show much promise. And I read somewhere today that there are many addons being developed for it. This will probably keep me busy for a while. In the meantime, the pics will have to wait cos I am still fiddling with its settings and checking out all its other functions. But if you are a social browser, I think this is a great browser ..... not sure whether there is a version for Windows though.

School Starts...

After an interesting 9-day break...it's back to school again. Getting up early in the morning to send son to school and then rushing off to work are things which I wish are not so routine. Malaysian political scenario is still hot...the first pains were felt by the BR but now it seems BN is also having its fair share of problems. Right at this moment, the deluge of news mixed with rumours are still pouring out. A lot of hearsays. KJ for Deputy Minister?? Don't tell me AB will go that far. Perlis and Terengganu also having their own crisis of sorts.

Demo in Komtar over the weekend...just my two sen. No water guns spitting out water laced with chemicals or chasing protestors. Freedom of expression or just because it's a different party this time? Was in Penang that same day, though it was after all had ended....things seemed pretty normal. Heard that there were SMSes going round about some problems and skirmishes there due to the demo. Logged onto Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today for updates. Nothing big....mainstream news bureau were as usual, slow.

For the records...

This is what OKT and AAB say, from The Star, Thursday March 13, 2008:

Ong: Perak voters cheated

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP has cheated its voters as a PAS state assemblyman will be sworn in as the Perak mentri besar today, Perak MCA chief Datuk Ong Ka Chuan said.

Ong, who is also the MCA secretary-general, said DAP should apologise to its voters, saying it was sad to hear that Perak PAS secretary Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin will be the mentri besar.

He said Mohammad's appointment went against the wishes of voters, especially non-Muslims.

“Having a mentri besar from PAS creates fear among non-Muslims. This also creates political instability.”

Ong, who is also the newly-elected Tanjong Malim MP, said the Chinese in Perak voted for DAP to uphold justice and change for the better but the opposite seemed to have happened.

On Perak DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham as the Deputy Mentri Besar (I), Ong said the Perak constitution states that the MB must be a Malay, though the Sultan has the discretion to waive this.

However, it did not state the existence of a deputy MB post, said Ong.

“There is no such post in the Perak constitution,” said Ong.

The Regent of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, met the three nominated candidates for the mentri besar’s post at 5pm yesterday.

The candidates were Ngeh (Sitiawan), state PKR treasurer Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang) and Mohammad (Pasir Panjang).

Pak Lah warns Guan Eng

PUTRAJAYA: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was warned by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi not to make statements that could stoke racial tensions.

Lim, after his swearing-in as the new Penang Chief Minister on Tuesday, told reporters that the DAP-led state government would not practise the New Economic Policy (NEP).

Lim had also said that the NEP, which was introduced in 1971 after the May 13, 1969, racial riots to eradicate poverty and restructure society, was the source of “cronyism, corruption and inefficiency.”

Abdullah told Bernama in between meetings with top civil servants at his office here that the NEP had in fact benefited everyone.

“I would like to ask the DAP which community has been made poorer because of the NEP,” he said.

“The (Penang) state government must not try to create an atmosphere which can cause racial tensions,” warned Abdullah, who is also head of Penang Umno.

He also said that the new state government in Penang should not marginalise the Malays, who are the minority in the state, and other minority groups like the Indians.

“Do not marginalise the Malays. I want to ask Lim Guan Eng what his plans are for the Malays in Penang What are his plans for the Indians in Penang? What are his plans for other minority groups in Penang?”

The prime minister gave an assurance that the federal Government would continue to look after the lower-income groups in the state and would also continue with the special assistance programmes for the bumiputras. – Bernama

Now who is stoking racial sentiments??? It's all about the power play, isn't it? No NEP, so what? As long as the poor is helped, that is what should be. If NEP does that for every single needy person in Malaysia, it's fine. But it has become a tool for only certain quarters to enrich themselves at the expense of the needy and it has also made certain quarters less competitive in the global stage. Is that good? At least BR has been quite consistent on their stand. What are our parties trying to tell us? I mean as long as we keep practising all these double standards, the principles of fairness and justices would just be out of our reach...

Cracking or get cracking...

As dawn broke on March 9th, many woke up to a new chapter of Malaysia's history. Barely a week down that new dawn, signs of cracks are already appearing as seen by LKS' reaction to the official appointment of a PAS MB. What is going on? By not agreeing to the appointment which they originally said will back does not look good for LKS. But I guess by accepting the MB's appointment also may not make DAP go down well with its supporters. Trying to strike a balance?

But what is happening here can also be likened to putting new wine into old skin. We know the skin will burst eventually cos it cannot take any stretching from the fermentation process of the new wine. So, when the BR say no race politics and then the next round comes up with statements like reformed NEP, then it's back to our Malaysian politics ala BN, given a facelift only. We are not ready to do a Martin Luther here either. Or are we??
Food for thought:
A sentiment from SEAN-THE-MAN here. Could we profess to be just and fair-minded at the end of the day knowing that we have shown prejudices in our conduct and practices? Conscience, any takers?
BR better start get cracking and stop cracking...

Updates: (14th March)
Now it's PKR punya turn pulak. Aiyo...BR, please get your acts together so that you can actually get down to governing Perak.

I am getting confused...

2 classes of citizenship???

From The Star
He said the special rights of Malays would continue but non-Malays would be treated fairly and given adequate representation.

From Malaysiakini
“We consider the (New Economic Policy, NEP) obsolete. I have always felt that it (has benefitted a) few family members of (those in) the ruling establishment. So we’ll stop this practice of awarding projects to family-related companies and cronies,” he said.

and here
What role will Anwar Ibrahim play in the opposition? Will he stand in a by-election in Permatang Pauh once he is eligible to run again? How hard will he push in certain ‘sensitive’ areas such as his promise to abolish the New Economic Policy and replace it with a more equitable system of wealth redistribution or helping the poor?

New Perak MB by end week

Interesting to watch this state, Perak...my home state. From the BR, DAP has the most number of seats. The state constitution states that the MB must be Muslim Malay but the Sultan has the prerogative. Initially, a PAS candidate was put forward as the nominee for the MB post. The palace has since then asked for 3 names to be submitted, including one name from DAP.

The sultan of Perak is Sultan Azlan Shah, a lawyer by training and Malaysia's former Lord President. The Raja Muda is his son, Raja Nazrin Shah, educated at Oxford and Harvard.

The recent developments have pointed towards, perhaps a new beginning in Malaysian politics, one that is not racially based. I, for one hope to see the day when my children will not be known first as Chinese, then Malaysian but just Malaysian. Their ethnicity would not be of any importance in any forms that they need to fill in. As long as race is a prerequisite for anything, then it is a form of apartheid.

I look forward to the day when Malaysians will elect a leader based on his/ her abilities, not because he/she is a Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban, Kadazan, Kelabit, etc. Barack Obama is black, even has Islamic background, yet the people of America has embraced him as a possible leader of their country. While some may say that Malaysia is still young as compared to America, hey, look, this is the internet age, the learning curve is supposed to be steeper, the time taken also should be shorter. After all, we have a populace who is educated, dynamic and forward looking.

Updates:
So, it's finally in. PAS MB. Well, one thing that comes out of this is we're not quite ready to embrace that everyone is equal. No doing an 'Obama' here yet. So, I guess it is only right that the President of America be white...or maybe Red Indian....if you go by we're here first, so we should always be first. Anyway, how come not a PKR MB???? Give MB to the party with the smallest number of wakil rakyat so that the other 2 won't fight with each other???

I am actually begin to wonder whether this loose coalition called BR thing is going to work for real. News reports (and this is from alternative sites) seem to indicate that hairline cracks are beginning to appear. I hope not. I know some may say it's still early, etc, etc. The euphoria is slowly dying down. A large section of the people may have amplified their wishes but whether of not it is going to take shape in the near future, we shall see.....

A First For Penang

I have finally decided to blog...put my thoughts down. We forget too easily.
Moved by the events of the last few days, seeing the impossible happening - I never thought I would see it in my lifetime. Thought the people of Malaysia are not ready for such a drastic change. Still in my mind, I wonder whether it's because of the real issues or that people were caught up by the psyche created by the Oppositions the last few years. The role of the internet is not to be overlooked here. I, for one, have depended on the net for alternative news. Just to name a few, Tony Pua, Nik Nazmi, Harris Ibrahim and countless others.

So, today, as Penang with the appointment of GE as CM and hopefully later Selangor and Perak (officially) move into uncharted territory, I am full of hope that this may mark the beginning of a Malaysian Malaysia. A Malaysia where people are not divided along racial lines but united in one common thing....we are Malaysians. For the new governments being formed you are being watched. For Penang, Perak and Selangor all eyes will be on you to see how well you can steer us into this uncharted territory.

For Kedah, where I reside, there are still doubts as to how PAS will carry itself, whether or not it will drop its hardline image and adopt a gentler face of Islam, that remains to be seen. Right now, in today's The Star I have already read that establishments are making outward makeovers. This is probably PAS' first opportunity in running a state with slightly more non-Muslims. If they do it well here, then maybe they will be more readily accepted by the rest of the country.

Updates: 12/03
Interesting to note that the DAP candidate has been dropped from the EXCO line-up. The 3 EXCO seats offered to PKR now are made up of a Malay, Chinese and Indian each. PKR is leading the way to non-race based politics with this one small step.